This thread is here to help you understand where to start, catch you up, and answer any questions you may have about The Lust Experience.

First off, my name is Buz (@thebuz) and I am a forum moderator with Sean (@thegilded) and Lauren (@daela). While we both have powers to modify comments and threads, we are still just participants like you and will contribute to theories, interactions, etc.. For more info on our duties as mods click HERE.

WHAT IS THIS?
This is a continuation of THE TENSION EXPERIENCE that took us down the rabbit hole last year of the occult and self awareness. The Lust Experience continues us down that rabbit hole.

We all lust for something. Some for power, some for sin, some for salvation.

HOW TO INTERACT
The forums are your game board. Best way to stay on top of them is by using the activity feed as it will show you all new posts in every section of the forum.

In order to be active you must contribute to topics. Being passive and just watching the story unfold is fine but don’t be surprised if you never get an interaction. A big point to all of this is the idea of “winding the clock.” You must wind the clock for the clock to work. This whole thing is based on how we interact with it. So be active and stay active. Things may not happen right away, there will be slow periods… but in the end patience will pay off. Only the active move forward.

Another very important phrase to remember is “NEVER SILENT” . If something happens (unless specifically told not to) share it on the forums immediately. Anything and everything. If you’re not sure if something is apart of the experience or not you can always ask the mods to help get clarification.

And please be sure to check out the Official LUST EXPERIENCE SLACK. Join in the conversation for immediate up to date theories, off topic chat, meet ups, etc… The forums remain the main game board but the chat is also a useful tool to stay active as well as immediately get in touch with a moderator.

Now that introductions are out of the way, below you will find a ton of information that will help you get caught up on what has happened thus far. It may seem daunting but myself and many other users are here to help. If you find yourself confused by something try doing a word search in the “IMPORTANT THREADS OF NOTE” section that should have a thread on the topic you need more information on.

Below is a summary of the goings on of lust by User @bcbishop followed by a summary of events on the specific factions we are currently dealing with.

Last year a nefarious Illuminati-esque organization called The OSDM began running a data collection experiment in Southern California under the name “The Tension Experience.” The idea was to use online and real-world interactions to provoke intense emotional responses in people. OSDM collects that data, which they catalog, process, and then deploy in various way to influence the population. (They claim responsibility for the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential Election.)

An effective way for OSDM to generate those emotional responses was to rely on narrative and character investment – just like you’d get worked up about a character or plot twists in a movie. To make this work, they hired an actor named Sabrina Kern, and brainwashed her into thinking she was a character named Addison Barrow. Over the 11 months this experiment went on, people participating in Tension wanted to save Addison, were sympathetic towards her, or otherwise emotionally engaged with The Experience with Addison as a focal point. At the time, participants didn’t realize she was a character, and thought the entire thing was real.

It wasn’t. It was all just a fiction created by the OSDM to ensnare people and get that sweet, sweet emotional data.

Right off the back, things get rocky. Filmmakers Darren Lynn Bousman and Clint Sears, who had been hired by The OSDM to serve as the fronts for Tension, get fired. (Bousman and Sears spent all of 2016 and some of 2017 pretending that Tension had just been an immersive theater production. That was all lies designed to keep OSDM and its goals out of the papers.) A group called The Investors swooped in, unhappy with the financial performance of Tension. (Even data collection experiments need to make $$, apparently.)

Meanwhile, a self-styled guru named Noah Sinclair — think Tom Cruise’s character in Magnolia, only without the awesome hair — has been pushing something called The System. This also appears to be a scheme to ensare people, though to what ends is not clear.

Unfortunately, Noah Sinclair starts going cuckoo. He has discovered that certain people are actually trying to replace him in The System using artificial intelligence. Noah rebels, threatening to bring down the entire operation – including his father, Horace Sinclair, who is linked to both Tension and The System.

Another operation Horace is tied to? iConfidant, a start-up focused on creating incredibly realistic artificial intelligence. Horace is an investor in iConfidant, and it’s that AI that was being used to replace Noah. iConfidant appeared to be collecting emotional data from people too, opening a massive beta program where over a hundred people were interacting with what they thought was an actual pen pal. (Some suspected these “pen pals” were AI all along.)

There was just one problem: those hundred people had actually been corresponding with Sabrina Kern, the actor that played Addison in Tension. After escaping from her captors last year, she had decided to return to them willingly, because she missed the adulation and adoration that being an “Overseer” in Tension afforded her. There’s some sinister implications here with her involvement, that may include trying to raise an ancient god named Anoch — but it’s still fuzzy whether Anoch is real, or part of another fictional narrative designed to dupe everyone.

Tired of all the back and forth, a participant here named Morgan decided to form a resistance movement called BOS. He created a fake alternate reality game on Instagram to lure in people obsessed with puzzle solving. Their stated mission? To bring down OSDM, and presumably The Investors and anybody else that does things they think are bad. (Depending on who you talk to, the BOS mission is a little vague, but their hearts are definitely in the right place.)

Which brings us to TODAY. Noah Sinclair, after losing his marbles before, is now back in action, hyping The System as this radical way to self-improvement. His videos are linked here on the forums, and on the Lust Experience Facebook page.

Is this real? Am I crazy? Are you crazy? Is this even Tuesday? You can never know for sure… all you can know is that there are some cool people hanging out on this forum, and there are some sketchy people out there in the shadows that aren’t who they say they are, and they’ve promised to emotionally destroy each and every one of us… if we dare to take them up on the offer. And that’s what makes this The Lust Experience.

And the Lust Experience’s own summary of the various factions.

I. THE SYSTEM: (www.Noah Sinclair.com)

NOAH SINCLAIR, a self-help guru is seemingly controlled by his tough as nails, unfaithful wife SARAH SINCLAIR. Together they are partners at SINCLAIR INDUSTRIES, promises to make you a better you, if you follow “THE SYSTEM”. The Sinclair’s have a dramatic and heated relationship, which may be puppeteered by HORACE SINCLAIR, Noah’s illusive father.

While confidence seems to be what the Sinclair’s peddle, their behind the scene turmoil has left their clients and investors unamused. After a series of email leaks from the desk of Sarah Sinclair, MACY JONES, her long time assistant was unceremonious fired, and then fled the state fearing violent repercussions from the Sinclair’s.

While very little is known about Sinclair Industries, or The System, it can be inferred a power struggle between Sarah, Noah, and Horace grows by the day.

Otis Fletcher, a seemingly mannered handy man first appeared on site at an early Sinclair event. He has made friends with several Lust participants who are now very concerned about the strange activities Noah Sinclair has repeatedly pulled him into. Otis a man of simple means, was last seen giving an out of character and concerning warning to his friends about the true nature of power.

iConfidant launches a program which promises to pair you with your perfect confidant. STACEY ERIKSON, the CEO accepts over a hundred applicants to participate in the next level of partnership matching. The company guarantees emotional connections that have been thus far unmatched in the digital space. Rumors begin to circulate that the iConfidant program is in fact a beta test for a much more sinister, A.I.

Upon acceptance,107 participants are paired with their confidants and begin a two month long journey of discovery and friendship. However, one of Stacey’s oldest friends and now assistant KRISTEN begins to realize an anomaly in the program and reaches out to Participants to warn them.

As the relationships grow between Participant and Confidant, suspicions form around Stacey and her connection to her mysterious investors.

After thousands of emails, and months of discussion, The Participants learn that they were not communicating with confidants, but rather, SABRINA KERN. Gatekeeper 2… The Overseer.

This reveal comes with another betrayal, iConfidant was infected by The OSDM through Stacey’s closest friend, Kristen.

III. THE INVESTORS

After losing their entire investment on The Tension Experience, a collective of investors, led by a foreigner named REMY, fly to Los Angeles and fire the original creators, Darren Bousman, and Clint Sears and take over the entire operation. With little insight known regarding the reasons for their involvement, all roads seem to lead back to their manipulation.

Sinclair Industries, Iconfidant and The Tension Experience appear to have all been funded by the same aggregate, which in turn all seem to answer to Horace, Noah Sinclair’s father.

While recouping their financial loss seems to drive them, they are equally concerned with procuring a piece of real estate for an upcoming event.

The Investors have hired commercial real estate broker TINA GORMAN.

Correspondence has revealed Tina has lost sleep due to their constant and feverish demands, frequently in the middle of the night, regarding finding land with unusual energy fields and allusions to supernatural phenomena.

IV. THE RESISTANCE:

After the nefarious acts perpetrated by Sinclair Industries, Iconfidant and the OSDM, an assemblage of scorned employees and victims organized and schemed a rebellion. Stacey Erikson, (formerly of iConfidant) hacked the Investors website of LUST and with the help from Macy (Sinclair Industries), and JENNA, a hired actor from last years Tension Experience, publicly declare a war with those pulling the strings.

However, the true leader of the Resistance would be revealed to be a Participant MORGAN R. who had grown tired of being lied to and manipulated. He worked in shadows to recruit an Army by staging his own ARG entitled THE MIDNIGHT COMMISSION.

V. THE OSDM:

The OSDM is the mysterious force that controls all from behind sinister shadows. While most are never actually seen, their presence is felt in the clockwork and pulse of every emotional twist of our universe.

As a public face to this hidden organization, community liaison, JOYCE CARLBERG is a rare exception to their standard operating procedure. While clearly magnetic and interesting her true motivations are still unclear.

And if you need a refresher of last years THE TENSION EXPERIENCE check out thisPREVIOUSLY ON THE TENSION EXPERIENCE.
Huge thanks to @kasch for this great review of the goings on of Tension. Use this if you need a refresher.

The original leader of the Brotherhood of Seraph, a fictional resistance group the OSDM created in The Tension Experience. (Before The End, those that joined this group were told by Michelle that they had made the group “real”.)

Sentinel Being’s Facebook account reached out to members of BOS around the same time that The Resistance was unveiled, calling members back to the fold. (This was likely Morgan Rooms using the account to build his ranks.)

Stephanie Hyden

Played a handler in Tension.

Was asked by Gordon Bijelonic to help with the Registration Event (as herself, not as a handler).

My name is Shannon and I’m new to this whole forum thing. I’ve had a “difficult” relationship with Tension and I”m just learning about The Lust Experience, having signed up for iConfidant. Speaking of which I literally have no idea what iConfidant truly is but I’m excited to learn more. I see that there is a lot I will be needing to catch up on…

I’m new here, so I just wanted to say thank you for all of this information, it already has and will continue to help me understand more of what’s going on; seeing as I already completed the in person registration yesterday with my girlfriend. I’m looking forward to really investing myself into this. It’s also going to be great getting to know everyone!

Well, I’ve followed up with iConfidant a total of three times to no avail. I’ve also just replied to my initial email to Noah with “I WILL NOT BE IGNORED” ’cause that seemed like a healthy choice.😂 Guess I’ll just be over here having serious Lust FOMO…

Hey there, brand new here. Where should I start. I am just starting to work on making accounts in all the relevant sights, but other than that I am lost. Thanks for any help you can give me would be much appreciated. 🙂

@parzival Hi, welcome to this crazy ride! You’ve already taken the important first step of signing up on the forums. This is where the main action happens and gets reported, and the creators have also called it the “game board” so be sure to check here often, voice your thoughts, and be active in general.

If you read through the links compiled in the first post of this thread, you’ll be all caught up, and the lust subreddit is a good place to go for quick recaps.

@parzival – Sounds like you got the first steps down. It’s important to know that emailing the Sinclairs and iConfidant are only the first step. The Powers That Be don’t just pull from those lists and reward and interact just because you’ve reached out, they pull from the active community here on the forums.

So hang out, talk about theories, ask questions, even make jokes. Make yourself a recognizable figure around here and you might find that someone will… take notice.

So I have emailed iConfidant and am still waiting to get a response, is there a timeline for when stuff is happening. I have heard good things about what happens with iConfidant and I want to get started with that. Can anyone help me?

A few days ago the Lust Facebook page posted this Saturday’s date. Traditionally that means that something is going to happen on that date. Last time this pattern showed up it was a lead up to the registration event. We don’t know what this one is but the pattern suggests it will be something not insignificant

Absolutely possible, but I DEFINITELY wouldn’t get your hopes up for anything. Literally the only thing that we know at this moment is the date. It could be a phone thing, could be an in person thing, could be a Periscope broadcast, could even just be nothing but a red herring.

@iambalrog Yep, we’re kinda in a holding pattern right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next chapter starts in the next few days though. We get some breathing time in this, but they don’t seem to last very long.

ok, so i am trying to keep up but can’t seam to so I am just going to drop out for a bit. may come back some time but for now i am going to focus on a different ARG. i am very sad to go but i am not doing this arg justice. Thanks for having me and hope to see you some time in the future.

New here, this is a lot of information to process but I appreciate the updates. Now you have me wondering if that mystery caller I got today while I was busy was related to anything here. Heh, I look forward to immersing myself here.

Hey guys – just trying to play catch up with what’s going on… I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to get a companion that isn’t a cat. Or more specifically any tips for what to email iConfidant?

@nicolemiizuka – No advice really, just express interest. iConfidant has, however, been a little silent since it was revealed that Sabrina was stealing data. Be warned that it may be a little bit before you receive a response.

Right now it’s mostly The System and The Resistance that are active with the other entities watching from the shadows

I feel like that guy that just got to the party and is super pumped, but doesn’t realize that he might just be a little too late and things are actually winding down. Any merit to this? Soooo much stuff has happened? Is there still plenty of time to enjoy myself?

@jefe – we are currently on a chapter break – chapter 3 ended last weekend and we’re in a lull until chapter 4 begins, so there isn’t much going on right now. There is still plenty of time, don’t worry.

@christineb I believe those doppelganger accounts were the result of the osdm taking Stacey’s iconfidant/mychild code and testing it on the forums to see if they could use it to replace Darren and Clint. Noah caught on, sent us some articles about the dangers of AI, and gave his rant about not being able to beat the original.

This is wonderful thing to come back to. I found out about Tension too late to participate and stumbled on Lust a few months ago. I’ve been following the forum since and this is a great reference to keep coming back to. Thank you for all the work that goes into keeping it up to date.